Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 53 (1), 23-24, 2000

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Laboratory and Epidemiology Communications

Outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis Caused by Contaminated Buns Peddled by a Producer Using Traveling Cars in Hyogo and Neighboring Prefectures in 1999: an Epidemiological Study Using Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

Hidetaka Tsuji, Kunio Shimada, Kokichi Hamada* and Hiroshi Nakajima¹

Division of Microbiology, Hyogo Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Arata-cho 2-1-29, Hyogo-ku, Kobe 652-0032 and ¹Department of Microbiology, Okayama Prefectural Institute for Environmental Science and Public Health, Uchio 739-1, Okayama 701-0298, Japan

Communicated by Shunsuke Imai

(Accepted March 24, 2000)

Salmonella serovar Enteritidis has become the most prevalent among the Salmonella serotypes in Japan since 1989 (1). In September 1999, an outbreak of the serovar occurred in Okayama Prefecture and its boundary areas extending to Hyogo and Tottori Prefectures (Fig. 1). The outbreak was due to contaminated cream buns peddled by a producer using eight traveling cars. They were produced by a manufacturer in Seto Town in Okayama Prefecture. Thirteen Salmonella Enteritidis isolates were obtained from fecal specimens of 206 patients with diarrhea, abdominal pains, fever, and in some cases, nausea. Two isolates were obtained from the food.

All 15 isolates showed a phage type of RDNC (Reaction Does Not Conform) (2). Almost all the isolates were sensitive to CP, ABPC, CPFX, FOM, GM, ST, and TMP; one isolate showed intermediate resistance to CP, three isolates to ABPC, and one strain to CPFX. They were intermediately resistant to SM, TC, KM, and NA, except for three isolates which were sensitive. They were also intermediately resistant to CTX, except for four isolates which were sensitive. None of the isolates were fully resistant to the 12 antibiotics tested. Antibiotic resistance was assayed in this study by using Sensi Disc (BD Biosciences, Sparks, Md, USA).

Fourteen isolates were examined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) by using a Gene Path Typing System (Nippon Bio-Rad, Tokyo). The PFGE pattern of BlnI-digested chromosomal DNAs was identical for all the isolates (Fig. 2). The PFGE pattern of XbaI digests demonstrated essentially the same results (data not shown).

The cream buns were made of butter and chicken eggs. The producer used cars to peddle them, a method of selling food which is common in Japan. This epidemic showed the inherent risk of this method in spreading food poisoning throughout a large geographical area.

The authors are grateful to Drs. Hidemasa Izumiya and Haruo Watanabe, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, for the phage typing of our isolates and for a critical reading of the manuscript.

REFERENCES

1. National Institute of Health and Infectious Diseases Control Division, Ministry of Health and Welfare (1995): Salmonella, Japan, 1992-1994. Infect. Agents Surveillance Rep. 16, 1'-2'.
2. Ward, L. R., de Sa, J. D. H. and Rowe, B. (1987): A phage-typing scheme for Salmonella enteritidis. Epidemiol. Infect., 99, 291-294.

*Corresponding author: Fax: +81-78-531-7080

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